Residents Drop Off Dead Trees at Local Facility

ODESSA - It's a sign of the times. Dead trees can be seen across lawns all over the Basin. Once green, now they are lifeless.

Local residents, like Wesley Bates, says it's a shame that he's had to cut some of his trees but there was no point in leaving them up.

"This whole drought has kinda taken effect on the tress and everything. It has caused these trees to go dying and everything," Bates said.

The Household Hazardous Waste Facility has made it more convenient for residents to drop off their trees and branches, and the best part, it's free of charge.

"You don't have to pay to go out to the city dump to take it. Overall it's a pretty good deal," resident, Chance Tomlinson, said.

The service is there to help the community in several ways.

"To eliminate brush from the alleys, to eliminate the waste trees going to the landfill and also it's a source of recycling," Odessa Solid Waste Superintendent, Oscar Maldonado, said.

But local residents are not the only ones benefiting for this service, the city is also saving cash.

"It saves us a ton of fees going to the landfill. The city saves quite a bit of money from not having to pay landfill fees on tree limbs," Maldonado said.

Also, if you have a green thumb, you also reap the benefits.

"Once we accumulate enough trees and tree limbs, we'll have it mulched and then we will stack it and put it up in the front, so the public to come and get it if they want to use it in their own gardens," Maldonado said.